Solid hair conditioning product

ABSTRACT

A cosmetic product ( 1 ) for conditioning hair, the cosmetic product having the form of a solid and comprising at least one hair conditioning ingredient. Cocoa butter, cetearyl alcohol (and) sodium lauryl sulfate and glyceryl stearate (and) PEG 100 stearate are used to form the solid and the at least one hair conditioning ingredient is a known hair conditioning ingredient, such as lanolin and cetrimonium bromide. The solid cosmetic product may combined in a bar or a small shape ( 3 ) with shampoo ( 2 ).

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This Application is a Section 371 National Stage Application ofInternational Application No. PCT/GB03/00096, filed Jan. 13, 2003 andpublished as WO 03/057182 on Jul. 17, 2003, in English, the contents ofwhich is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to cosmetic hair conditioning products andto a method for fabricating such products.

In cosmetics, the cleansing and conditioning of the hair has beenachieved by use of liquid products. Conditioning products are applied tothe hair after shampooing to reduce static charge, give combability andshine. They are in a liquid state and are poured on to the hand andapplied to the hair, massaged through and then rinsed away.

One conventional liquid hair conditioning product has the followingformulation:

% by weight Water 91.0 Methyl Paraben 0.2 Propylene Glycol 5.0 PropylParaben 0.1 Cetearyl Alcohol (and) 1.8 Sodium Lauryl Sulfate CetearylAlcohol 0.7 Lanolin 0.7 Cetrimonium Bromide 0.5

Conditioners are conventionally supplied in containers made, forexample, of a rigid or semi-rigid plastics material. Usually, thisinvolves the use of a plastic container and cap to contain the product.In use the bottle may break, particularly when travelling. The containerhas to be disposed of after use and adds to the environmental impactpackaging makes. Thus, the container adds significantly to the cost ofthe product and environmental pollution is caused by the disposal ofempty containers.

In addition, conventional conditioners require preservatives to preventthe growth of microorganisms therein. However, such preservatives havethe disadvantages of irritating users' skin and reducedbiodegradability.

There is an increasing awareness of environmental issues particularlywith regard to the disposal of product packaging and the like. Thepresent invention has been made against this background.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show arrangement of two phases in accordance with thepresent invention.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided ahair conditioning product, the product having the form of an emulsifiedsolid and comprising at least one hair conditioning ingredient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a further aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a method of fabricating an emulsified solid form cosmetic hairconditioning product, comprising mixing a plurality of ingredients so asto provide a mixture including at least one hair conditioningingredient, warming the mixture to a temperature within a range of fromabout 45° C. to about 60° C., allowing the mixture to cool, applyingfurther mixing of the mixture when the mixture has attained atemperature within a range of from about 35° C. to about 25° C., andallowing the mixture to cool further to provide the emulsified solidform hair conditioning product.

Since the cosmetic product has the form of a solid, there is norequirement for a plastic container and there is a consequentiallybeneficial reduction in costs and avoidance of environmental pollution.In addition, the present invention can provide appealing novelty items.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRSTIVE EMBODIMENTS

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in moredetail and by way of further example only, with reference to thedrawings, each of which shows a cross-section of a product according tothe present invention.

The present invention has been made with the intention of creating asolid conditioning product, which has the same or an improved effect onthe hair as a conventional liquid formulation. It has surprisingly beenfound that a simple mixture of certain known hair conditioningingredients, for example as included in the conventional liquid hairconditioning product above, together with a vegetable fat, and inparticular cocoa butter, produces a relatively stable solid formproduct. Optionally, the cocoa butter can be used in combination withother emulsifying waxes or such waxes may be used alone. With thepresent invention it has also been found that with appropriate controlof the process conditions, emulsification of the product ingredients canbe achieved to a very high standard, even when water is present in theformulation, to provide the relatively stable solid form product.

For example, the solid conditioning product of the present invention maybe formulated from materials in the following ranges:

% by weight Cocoa Butter 10%-50% Cetearyl Alcohol (and)  6%-30% SodiumLauryl Sulfate Glyceryl stearate (and)  0%-20% PEG100 stearate CetearylAlcohol  2%-15% Cetrimonium Bromide 0.5%-5%   Lanolin 0.5%-5%  Propylene Glycol  5%-30% Water  0%-25%

The first three ingredients, namely cocoa butter, cetearyl alcohol (and)sodium lauryl sulfate, and glyceryl stearate (and) PEG 100 stearate,form the solid and help condition the hair. The remaining ingredientsare core ingredients of a conventional liquid conditioner, which havebeen made into a solid with the addition of the emulsifying waxes.Cetearyl alcohol and sodium lauryl sulfate may be used or addedseparately, rather than premixed in one ingredient. Similarly, glycerylstearate and PEG 100 stearate, which act as an emulsifying wax, may beused or added separately, rather than premixed in one ingredient.

Accordingly, a feature of the present invention is that conditioningingredients of a conventional liquid conditioner are mixed with at leastone other ingredient, preferably cocoa butter and/or emulsifying waxes,which solidify the product.

Thus, one example of a conditioning product according to the presentinvention may be formulated as follows:

-   -   % by weight

Cocoa Butter 25.0

Cetearyl Alcohol (and) Sodium Lauryl Sulfate 25.0

Glyceryl Stearate (and) PEG 100 Stearate 10.0

Cetearyl Alcohol 5.0

Cetrimonium Bromide 1.5

Lanolin 1.5

Propylene Glycol 27

Water 5.0

-   -   Total 100.0

The method by which the conditioning product of the present inventionmay be fabricated is considered to be particularly advantageous and,surprisingly, provides a very stable emulsified mixture, even when wateris present at up to 25% by weight in the mixture. All of the ingredientsare mixed together and the mixture is warmed to a maximum temperature ofapproximately 60° C. A warming temperature in the range of from about45° C. up to about 60° C. has been found to be particularly beneficialin this respect. At this temperature the cocoa butter, and otheremulsifying waxes if present, are softened, which facilitates the mixingof the ingredients but the mixture does not emulsify at this stage. Themixture is then allowed to cool from the warmed temperature, and duringan initial phase of the cooling cycle, down to about 35° C., the mixingof the ingredients may be discontinued as it has been found not toprovide any particular benefit in terms of the dispersion of theingredients or emulsification in the final product. When a temperatureof between about 35° C. and about 25° C. is reached during the coolingcycle, the mixing of the ingredients is recommenced. In this temperaturerange, efficient and very high quality emulsification of the ingredientshas been found to occur, and this has also been found to bc dependent onthe maximum temperature to which the mixture is warmed during theinitial phase of the fabrication process. A temperature in the range offrom about 27° C. to about 30° C. has been found to be particularlybeneficial when further mixing of the ingredients is provided.

Usually, when an emulsifying wax is used in a cosmetic product, themixed ingredients are heated to a temperature of about 75° C. to softenthe waxes and assist dispersion of the ingredients being mixed. However,it has been found with the present invention that if a temperature of75° C. is used the subsequent dispersion and emulsification of the mixedingredients in the resulting product is reduced and an inferior qualityproduct is obtained. The solid form conditioning product of the presentinvention is therefore different to the known products of this type.

The conditioning product of the present invention is also very differentto the solid form products in which particulate needle or powdered formingredients are compacted under pressure in a mould to provide a solidform composition, sometimes using a binder material to assist inproviding the solid product. Furthermore, because the ingredients can bemixed with warming only to a relatively low temperature of about 60° C.maximum, there is reduced risk that certain ingredients are not degradedas a result of the fabrication process. The fabrication process canalso, therefore, be carried out simply and at lower cost, but theresulting emulsified product is of superior quality. Control of thefabrication process parameters in accordance with the present inventionis considered therefore to bring particular and unexpected benefits.This particularly so when considering that a superior quality and stableemulsified product is provided, which can be cut without fragmentationbut is sufficiently solid for normal handling in use of the product, andwhich does not require the addition of chemical preservatives or the useof packaging to prevent product degradation through the growth ofmicro-organisms, even though up to about 25% of the total ingredientscan comprise water. This is due to the very good emulsification of theproduct ingredients arising from the relatively low initial temperatureto which the ingredients are warmed. If the conventional heatingtemperature of about 75° C. is used the emulsifying properties of thecocoa butter and or emulsifying waxes are significantly reduced.

From the foregoing, it can be seen that the principal ingredient ofconventional liquid conditioners is water and this has the addeddisadvantage that lower concentrations of conditioning ingredients canbe included in the conventional conditioner, so that larger volumes ofconventional conditioner must be used to obtain the same conditioningeffect as for a solid conditioning product in accordance with thepresent invention. Thus, the conventional conditioning product has thefurther comparative disadvantages of more expensive distribution and acorrespondingly higher environmental impact.

The solid conditioning product of the present invention may have theform of a bar: it may be moulded into small shapes or it may have theform of a large cake shape. Because the composition is a cured solidproduct, as opposed to the solid products of compacted particulate orgranular form, the product can be cut into smaller portions very easilywithout fragmentation of the product. In this respect the composition ofthe product can be compared to that of an edible cake. The use of cocoabutter is considered to be particularly advantageous because,surprisingly, the ingredients can be mixed into a paste with minimalheating, and the mixture is able to cure and harden naturally into asolid product, even when a significant proportion of water is includedin the formulation. As such, the term solid product, when used in thecontext of the present invention, is not intended to include products ofthe type which are of powder or particulate composition (of any shape orsize) and which are formed into a solid form by compaction underpressure in a mould, with or without the aid of a suitable bindermaterial.

This solid system enables certain ingredients to be used withoutrequiring chemical preservatives because the growth of micro-organismsis significantly retarded by the products solid state. It can be seenfrom the typical conventional liquid conditioning product formulationhow different the solid conditioning formulation is in this respect.Moreover, the solid conditioning bar has the advantage of creating agreatly reduced impact on the environment as it does not require aplastic container. Visual impact can be made with large spectacularcakes of conditioner. Alternatively, small convenient individual shapesmay convey to the customer the practical aspect of the product. Theabsence of conventional preservatives reduces the potential forirritation of the user. The biodegradability of the solid bar is alsoimproved by the absence of preservatives.

In use, the bar is massaged directly onto the head or onto the hands,which are then used to apply conditioner to the hair. This delivers justthe right amount of product for the desired effect. A larger bar can becut or broken with the hands and thus small pieces of a solid bar ofconditioning product can be broken off and used as required. To improvethe cutting or breaking properties of such a bar, small amounts of watercan be included in the formulation, for example up to 25% by weight andtypically between 1% and 10% by weight. In this case, the aboveexemplary formulation will comprise between 99% and 90% by weight of thefinal product. Of course, such amounts of water can also be added to thesmall shapes if desired.

In addition, other materials such as stearic acid can be substituted forall or part of the glyceryl stearate (and) PEG 100 stearate in theformulation. As well as forming the solid, these ingredients haveconditioning qualities for the hair. Other conditioning ingredients suchas soya lecithin can be substituted for conditioning ingredients likelanolin. Herbs, fruits and/or vegetables can be combined to givedifferent qualities to the final formulation and can vary between 5% to25% by weight of the final product. Small amounts of additives may beincluded, such as a fragrance and/or colorant.

One example of the relative ratios of the components is given above.These ratios and the ingredients themselves can of course be varied, therequirement being only that a useable solid form hair conditioningproduct results.

Liquid formulations of shampoo with conditioning properties have been inexistence for some years. However, a solid form of this type of productis hitherto unknown. A solid shampoo formulation with the solidconditioning bar formulation can be combined to create a bar having theeffect of washing and conditioning the hair in one application withoutrequiring the use of two separate products. This has all the advantagesof the conditioning bar, including no packaging and no preservatives.Similarly, the shampoo and conditioning bar of the present invention canbe moulded into small individual shapes or large cakes which can be cutinto individual portions.

The proportion of shampoo material compared to the amount ofconditioning material is variable. Dry hair would benefit from a greateramount of conditioner. Flat, fine hair would be washed and conditionedmore successfully with a smaller proportion of conditioner to shampoomaterial.

A basic proportion of 50:50 shampoo to conditioner is given in thefollowing example. However, this proportion may have the range of 30-70%by weight of conditioner and 70-30% by weight of shampoo.

Example of a Shampoo and Conditioning Bar

% by weight Shampoo Sodium Lauryl Sulfate 48.5 Cocamide D.E.A. 1.5Conditioner Cocoa Butter 12.5 Cetearyl Alcohol (and) 12.5 Sodium LaurylSulfate Glyceryl Stearate (and) 5.0 PEG 100 Stearate Cetearyl Alcohol2.5 Cetrimonium Bromide 0.75 Lanolin 0.75 Propylene Glycol 13.5 Water2.5 Total 100.0

The range of percentages for this type of product reflects theproportion of shampoo to conditioner. However, the proportion ofingredients in the conditioner varies in the same way as in theconditioning bar.

Ideally, the distribution of the conditioner and the shampoo in the barenables the user to apply both to the hair at the same time. Thearrangement of the two phases may be as shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, each ofwhich shows a shape 3 of solid shampoo and conditioner.

As FIGS. 1 and 2 show, the shampoo 2 or alternatively the conditioner 1can form the middle of the bar 3. As FIG. 3 shows, patterns such as aspiral may be formed through the bar with one or the other of thephases. It is also possible to merge the two formulations together toform a homogenous mixture. The bars may be in small individual shapes orlarge cakes which can be cut into smaller portions.

Of course the general aesthetic appeal and marketing possibilities ofsuch a combined solid shampoo and conditioning product, as well as theother features, are the same as for the solid conditioning productalone.

The aforegoing description has been given by way of example only and itwill be appreciated by a person skilled in the art that modificationscan be made without departing from the scope of the present invention asdefined by the appended claims.

1. A cosmetic hair conditioning product, the product having the form ofan emulsified solid composition and comprising at least one hairconditioning ingredient and a principle solidifying ingredientcomprising: a) from 10% to 50% by weight of the product of cocoa butter;and b) from 6% to 37% by weight of the product of a mixture of cetearylalcohol and sodium lauryl sulfate.
 2. A cosmetic product according toclaim 1 further comprising a solidifying ingredient selected from thegroup consisting of glyceryl stearate, PEG 100 stearate and stearicacid, or mixtures thereof.
 3. A cosmetic product according to claim 2,prepared from a mixture including up to 20% by weight of at least one ofglyceryl stearate, PEG 100 stearate and stearic acid.
 4. A cosmeticproduct according to claim 1, wherein one solidyfing ingredient is alsoa hair conditioning ingredient.
 5. A cosmetic product according to claim1, wherein the at least one conditioning ingredient comprises at leastone of propylene glycol, cetearyl alcohol, sodium lauryl sulfate,lanolin, soya lecithin and cetrimonium bromide.
 6. A cosmetic productaccording to claim 1, further comprising up to 25% by weight of water.7. A cosmetic product according to claim 1, further comprising 5% to 25%by weight of at least one of herbs, fruits and vegetables.
 8. A solidhair treatment product, comprising a shampoo and a cosmetic productaccording to claim
 1. 9. A solid hair treatment product according toclaim 8, comprising 30% to 70% by weight of the shampoo and 70% to 30%by weight of the cosmetic product.
 10. A solid hair treatment productaccording to claim 8, wherein the cosmetic product is surrounded by theshampoo.
 11. A solid hair treatment product according to claim 8,wherein the shampoo is surrounded by the cosmetic product.
 12. A solidhair treatment product according to claim 8, wherein the cosmeticproduct and the shampoo form a pattern.
 13. A solid hair treatmentproduct according to claim 12, wherein the pattern is arranged to enablecontemporaneous application of the cosmetic product and the shampoo tothe hair of a user.
 14. A solid hair treatment product according toclaim 13 wherein the pattern comprises a spiral pattern.
 15. A method offabricating an emulsified solid form cosmetic hair conditioning productaccording to claim 1, comprising mixing the at least one hairconditioning ingredient and the principle solidifying ingredient,warming the mixture to a temperature within a range of from 45° C. to60° C., allowing the mixture to cool, applying further mixing when themixture has attained a temperature within a range of from 35° C. to 25°C., and allowing the mixture to cool further to provide the emulsifiedsolid form hair conditioning product.
 16. A method according to claim 15wherein the further mixing is provided when the mixture has attained atemperature of between 27° C. and 30° C.
 17. A method according to claim15 wherein the product further comprises water up to 25% by weight ofthe mixture.